The "Peacherine Rag" was originally published in 1901 by John Stark & Son of St. Louis, Missouri. It was on the “Peacherine” cover that Stark first proclaimed Scott Joplin the “King of Ragtime Writers,” the title by which Joplin is remembered today.

Scott Joplin's date of birth is unknown, but is believed to have been born in Texas between June 1867 and January 1868. His parents were freed slaves who left the farm they had worked on shortly after Scott's birth. Joplin inherited his love ...